30th Annual Sunshine Cruz at Clackamette Park, Oregon City

The West Linn and Riverview Lions clubs are gearing up to cook up some great burgers at the Trick’n Racy car show on Friday June 16, 2017 From 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM— at Clackamette Park.

Trick ‘n Racy Cars is a car club based in Oregon City, Oregon, USA. It was formed in the 1985 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the fellowship of owners of hotrods, special interest, and classic cars. Current membership totals approximately 50 active members ranging in age from “early 20’s” to members of who-knows-how-old that act as if they were in their “early 20’s.”

Members gather for periodic cruises, tours, and events throughout the year to raise funds which are used to support the Club’s charitable giving in the Oregon City community Over the past nine years, Trick ‘n Racy Cars has donated over $58,000 to support the needs of local residents and charities. The Annual Sunshine Cruz is always held at Clackamette Park on the Friday evening in June just before Father’s Day weekend. 2017 will be the 30th year the club has hosted this event.

On Sunday, March 19th, the West Linn Lions and West Linn Riverview Lions clubs are co-hosting the 21st annual Sight and Hearing Bowl-A-Thon at Wilsonville Lanes in Wilsonville.

This event is part of an effort to raise money for the Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation (OLSHF). OLSHF was founded in 1959 as the “charitable arm” of the Lions Club of Oregon, with the goal of improving the quality of life in the area of sight, hearing, diabetes and humanitarian service for people in Oregon. In the 20 years since the Lions started the Bowl-A-Thon, they have raised $116,121 for OLSHF

The Bowl-A-Thon is a “9-pin, no tap,” round of bowling (which means striking down nine out of 10 pins on the 1st try counts as a strike) . Participants Bowl in teams of up to 4 people. Teams have a chance Bowl and win cash prizes depending on their performance there is also an option to provide lane sponsorship.

The Bowl-A-Thon is comprised of two sessions — at 9 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. — and each will support up to 22 teams. Each year the Bowl-A-Thon typically reaches capacity. People from all over the Oregon and Washington State come to play. It’s a great cause and provides comradery and is fun for friends and family.

The cost for each four-person team is $100, which includes 3 rounds of bowling. a T-shirt and gift bag. Lane sponsorship Costs $80, sponsors will have their individual or company name listed on a flier and hung over the lanes during the event.

Each year the West Linn Lions Club sponsors a flag day for the West Linn Elementary Schools so children can gain insight into what our American Flag means. The West Linn Lions Club present small flags with wooden stands to up to 300 1st and/or 2nd graders at Bolton, Cedar Oak and Sunset Elementary Schools. The Riverview Lions Club also present to the three other West Linn Elementary Schools (Stafford, Willamette and Trillium).

Each Child receives an small American Flag of their own to take home with them and leans the meaning of the pledge of allegiance. The intent of the presentation is to teach children facts and History about the American Flag and patriotism However, the display also has a collection of flags representing various countries around the world that have Lions Clubs which teaches children to have respect for other countries and flags.

The homeless people living on the streets in Portland have two critical needs to survive the winter. One is a sleeping bags and the other are socks.

For the last eight years the Knights of the Resurrection Council No. 13851 which is a Knight of Columbus Council led by Richard Akins and Charles Cloud, both parishioners of Resurrection Catholic Parish and Brother Knights. Have help to collect and distribute some 2569 sleeping bags have been given to organizations who help the homeless.

West Linn Lion member Dick Akins and his wife were featured on KATU who were honoring Everyday Heroes

The funding for the sleeping bags come from a variety of sources. Various organizations and individuals supply the funding. These fellow sponsoring groups include the West Linn Lions Club; St. Vincent de Paul Society Chapter of Resurrection Catholic Parish; Assured Life Association (Rose City Camp # 77); Odd Fellow Lodges of Mt. Scott/Star # 188 and the Samaritan Lodge # 2; Knights of the Resurrection Council 13851; Omaha Woodmen Lodge 1946 and Fulton J Sheen Assembly (4th Degree Knights). Resurrection Catholic Parish and many individual parishioners from Resurrection Catholic Parish also contribute on an annual basis.

All sleeping bags are delivered to various organizations within the greater Portland area who serve the needs of the homeless. These organizations in turn distribute the sleeping bags to those they know need the assistance. The beneficiaries of the sleeping bag program include Rose Haven, an organization that supports battered women and their families. St. Andre Bessette Church known as Downtown Chapel on Burnside that serves the need of the homeless West of the Willamette River. St. Francis Catholic Church on the east side of the Willamette River and serves the needs of the homeless in East Portland. NightStrike, a Protestant church serving the needs of the homeless underneath the Burnside Bridge every Thursday evening. Resurrection Catholic Parish Life-Teens participate in the NightStrike program on an annual basis. When the need arises, we give the sleeping bags to the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Resurrection Catholic Parish. Volunteers of America also received sleeping bags, this organization addresses the needs of former addicts and try to integrate them into society, and Impact Northwest serves the needs of women in crisis (YMCA). We donate sleeping bags to the Episcopal Church on Clay Street in downtown Portland that addresses the needs of the homeless youth from ages 14 to 24 (this program is known as the Underground). We also donate sleeping bags to a non-sectarian program called New Answers for Youth which serves the needs of the homeless youth on the east side Portland. Finally we give sleeping bags to two parish churches who serve the needs of the homeless – St. Cyril Church in Wilsonville and St. Francis Church in Sherwood.

Each December the West Linn Lions Club and Riverview lions, with the assistance of the West Linn Elementary and Middle school staff, help over 120 children get new shoes. These children are transported by bus from the Stafford, Riverview and Sunset schools to a local shoe store to pick out their very own pair of shoes. Afterward the bus takes them for lunch then back to school.

The program helps kids who need a good pair of shoes and socks to wear and have little no means to buy them on their own. The West Linn Lions club has already given out hundreds of new pairs of shoes as well as other items of clothing for those in need. We are changing lives in thousands of children in out community. New shoes provide happiness, dignity, pride and self-esteem so children can focus on learning.

Helping parents and children in the West Linn Community with new shoes